Utah's ratification established the required 75% of states needed to enact the amendment (this overturned the 18th Amendment which had outlawed alcohol in the United States).
External Link: Clash of Cultures Homepage
Generational Link: World War Cycle - Depression / World War II Era - Fourth Turning, Crisis (1930-1944)

Also,

Biography:
b. 12/5/1782 - Martin Van Buren, 8th President of the United States (d. July 24, 1862)
b. 12/5/1901 - Walt Disney, American animated film producer (d. December 15, 1966)

Beyond America:
12/5/1932 - German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.
b. 12/5/1890 - Fritz Lang, Austrian-born film director (d. August 2, 1976)

Last year (12/5/2005):
Civil Partnership Act 2004: The United Kingdom begins registration of civil unions for same-sex couples.

This Week's News / Tomorrow's History (12/2/2006):
London police are examining whether the killers of Russian Alexander Litvinenko also tried to poison Mario Scaramella, an Italian security expert who met the Russian exile on the day that he fell ill.

View prior History Today posts.